Chapter 90, Chapter 90 (Second Update)
Luo Yan ran into the school in a good mood, but she ran into Zhou Xiuhe on the stairs.
Her lips relaxed slightly, and her gaze involuntarily drifted to the ground, but these were all subconscious actions; her heart, which should have been filled with panic, was surprisingly calm.
Calm? It seems this matter is over for me.
Luo Yan suddenly felt a little melancholy, lifted her foot and stepped up another step, walking step by step towards the classroom.
She seemed a little dazed when she entered, and somehow bumped into a desk. A classmate who saw her asked, "Luo Yan, are you alright?"
Luo Yan snapped out of her daze, smiled, and touched the spot where she had bumped into something: "It's okay."
Actually, it hurt so much that I was grimacing, and I even gasped for breath when I sat down.
During the break, she looked up at her trouser leg and saw a small bruise.
How many days will it take for this kind of injury to heal?
Luo Yan didn't know, but she knew everything would be alright, so she took the book out of her bag.
As she moved, she smelled a faint sweet aroma. She leaned closer to smell it and muttered to herself, "No wonder it's a lunchbox full of brown sugar buns."
Now there's only half a lunchbox left.
Luo Hong is so big, and he does physical labor, so to exaggerate, he's never not hungry. He would eat several of them in one go while they were still hot, then let out a satisfied burp and drink some tea to settle his stomach.
Just after they had eaten and drunk their fill, He Qiaosheng came to visit, carrying Dongdong in his arms.
The father and son were wearing clothes of different sizes but the same style, and they looked like they were made from the same mold.
Luo Hong asked, "Isn't Dongdong going to school today?"
Dongdong answered by jumping up and down, "My stomach hurts, so I don't need to go to school."
With his lively and cheerful demeanor, who could believe it? Luo Hong himself was an expert at faking illness to skip school, and pinched his cheek: "Really?"
Dongdong looked at the floor somewhat guiltily, rubbing his hands together: "Really."
"How adorable," Luo Hong gestured for the father and son to sit down before asking, "Is your wife at work today?"
Although He Qiaosheng couldn't speak, his hearing was good. He nodded and gestured a couple of times, meaning: "How's business at the shop?"
Luo Hong got excited as soon as this was mentioned, and he couldn't wait to read the entire account book to him. He also asked, "Can you take a look and see if this car can be salvaged?"
He was referring to the used car he had acquired a couple of days ago.
He Qiaosheng was a key technical worker at the bicycle factory, and he picked up his tools without any hesitation.
But he had some difficulty gesturing the more technical terms, so he took out paper and pen from his pocket.
Luo Hong leaned closer to look and saw that the two heads were huddled together. Dongdong didn't want to be "left behind," so he used all his strength to squat between his stepfather and Uncle Luo. He looked incredibly cute.
Luo Hong also liked him quite a bit, and said, "Let me tell you a secret, there are some candies from your Aunt Yan Yan on the cabinet, you can take them and eat them."
Dongdong was clearly more interested in Aunt Yanyan than the candy. Remembering something, he tugged at his father's arm and shook it: "Didn't you say you would bring me to visit Auntie?"
He Qiaosheng was so dizzy from being shaken that he tried to reason with him using sign language.
But at Dongdong's age, he can't even understand much human speech, so it's really difficult for him to communicate with his stepfather. He can only blink his big eyes and look at him pitifully.
That's why He Qiaosheng repeatedly lost to his stepson and could only sigh helplessly.
Luo Hong found it amusing: "Auntie doesn't get out of school until midnight."
Twelve o'clock, how long is that? Dongdong had no concept of it, so he could only sit quietly on the small stool and wait.
He felt as if an eternity had passed, and asked, "Uncle Luo, is it twelve o'clock yet?"
Less than a minute had passed when Luo Hong patiently replied, "Not yet."
But his patience quickly ran out because Dongdong kept asking the same question over and over again.
Finally, the school bell rang, and he said, "Dongdong, you can wait at the gate now. Auntie will be here soon."
Dongdong ran out quickly, and both his father and Uncle Luo breathed a sigh of relief when they didn't see him.
He Qiaosheng shook his head, his hand on his neck, clearly showing that it had been rubbed quite a bit.
But Luo Hong felt that he had become more "human" after getting married, saying, "I think since Dongdong came along, you've lost your sentimentality."
He Qiaosheng used to be gloomy, as if the world owed him a lot of money. He himself finds it a little funny when he thinks about it, gesturing as he chats with his friends, but his eyes keep following the children.
Dongdong looked around at the store entrance and ran over when he spotted Luo Yan.
Luo Yan was walking out of class pondering something she hadn't quite grasped during the last lesson when someone suddenly grabbed her leg, almost making her cry out. Seeing who it was, she exclaimed in surprise, "Dongdong, what are you doing here?"
Dongdong spoke a long string of words, but the faster he spoke, the more he stumbled over his words.
Luo Yan carried him into the store, where she saw people greeting him: "Brother Qiaosheng".
He Qiaosheng nodded to him, while Luo Hong said, "Go and buy two good dishes."
He Qiaosheng quickly stopped her, his hand almost flying. Actually, Luo Yan understood what he meant, but pretended not to, and continued walking with Dongdong in her arms.
He Qiaosheng couldn't hold her back, and he was so anxious that he started yelling.
Luo Hong: "Alright, what kind of person would I be if I let you go back and eat me?"
He Qiaosheng certainly understood this principle, but he simply made a gesture as if he were taking something.
Luo Hong: "She doesn't need to bring it back; the good food will be delivered by someone else."
He Qiaosheng was amazed to learn that such services were available. He rarely went to state-run restaurants, so he was surprised to find that privately-run restaurants had improved to this extent.
The two continued chatting, and they talked quite a bit during lunch.
Unlike her brother, Luo Yan couldn't understand sign language, but she could roughly guess what they were saying from their words, occasionally chiming in while taking care of Dongdong, who was clinging to her.
Dongdong is very well-behaved when eating, but halfway through the meal he becomes a little restless and inexplicably crawls under the table.
Oh dear, the area under this table isn't very clean. Luo Yan quickly pulled him out and coaxed him, "Be good, Auntie will get you some candy."
Dongdong was attracted by the candy and finally sat down obediently, but after finishing the rest of his meal, he started whining.
He Qiaosheng gestured to explain: "He's tired, I'll go back first and come back another day."
Luo Hong didn't keep him any longer. After he left, he cleared out the plates for the small restaurant and said, "Take them back."
Luo Yan carried them across the road and unexpectedly ran into Zhou Xiuhe again. She now felt that there were still many coincidences in the world, but then she thought that since they were in the same school, it was perfectly normal to run into each other, so she continued walking.
Zhou Xiuhe glanced back at her, but didn't say anything.
Luo Yan didn't see his hesitation, but Luo Hong did. He thought to himself that his eyesight was good enough, but when his sister returned, he still refrained from asking.
Luo Yan herself brought it up: "I saw Zhou Xiuhe today, but I didn't feel much."
It sounds like a good thing, Luo Hong said: "Why do you look like you're having such a bad time?"
It's not a pity, but the era in which Luo Yan grew up meant that she hadn't read many love stories, and her limited understanding of relationships between men and women came from classics like "The Butterfly Lovers."
She always felt that love should be intense and passionate, and even if two people were to separate and not talk about being together through thick and thin, their emotions should still be more dramatic.
Therefore, she always felt that when facing Zhou Xiuhe now, there should be a longer and more unbearable struggle.
Overall, she felt she was moving too fast, so fast that it made people doubt whether it had truly been a relationship.
The thoughts were so complex that they couldn't be explained to her brother in just a few words. Luo Yan even felt that he might not understand even if she explained them, so she simply said, "You've misunderstood."
Luo Hong assumed she was just being stubborn, so he wiped the table and changed the subject: "Save me a seat when you have the banquet tomorrow."
Luo Yan: "I thought you weren't opening the shop tomorrow morning."
My childhood friend's older sister is getting married. No matter how important it is, it's not enough to close the shop. Besides, she's a long-time resident of Beijing and has countless relatives.
Luo Hong, seemingly lost in thought, pursed his lips and said, "I'll only rest after the three parties get married."
Why does he get so sarcastic when people talk about getting married? Luo Yan: "Are you thinking of getting married because everyone else is getting married?"
Luo Hong tapped his sister on the head: "This isn't like going to the grain station to rob rice, and everyone's rushing in like madmen."
He had just finished wiping the table and hadn't even washed his hands before daring to touch his own hair. Luo Yan was furious and punched her brother three times.
Luo Hong exaggeratedly said, "My ribs are broken," and only stopped shouting when he saw guests arrive.
Luo Yan maintained a ladylike demeanor in public, sitting down quietly to read her book. After turning a couple of pages, a dry leaf fell out of the bookâshaped like a heart, a gift from Zhou Xiuhe.
Strangely enough, Luo Yan's heart, which she had always considered calm, suddenly skipped a beat, only to return to stillness the next second.
She suddenly realized that what she couldn't let go of wasn't Zhou Xiuhe as a person, but rather the many happy moments they had shared.
But those joys will eventually fade away.
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Author's note: Good night, have a happy weekend!
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